This study explores the profound impact of varying oxygen content on microstructural and mechanical properties in specimens HO and LO. The higher oxygen concentration in specimen HO is found to significantly influence alpha lath sizes, resulting in a size of 0.5-1 μm, contrasting with the 1-1.5 μm size observed in specimen LO. Pore fraction, governed by oxygen concentration, is high in specimen HO, registering a value of 0.11%, whereas specimen LO exhibits a lower pore fraction (0.02%). Varied pore types in each specimen further underscore the role of oxygen concentration in shaping microstructural morphology. Despite these microstructural variations, the average hardness remains consistent at ~370 HV. This study emphasizes the pivotal role of oxygen content in influencing microstructural features, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interplay between elemental composition and material properties.
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The thermoelectric effect, which converts waste heat into electricity, holds promise as a renewable energy technology. Recently, bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3)-based alloys are being recognized as important materials for practical applications in the temperature range from room temperature to 500 K. However, conventional sintering processes impose limitations on shape-changeable and tailorable Bi2Te3 materials. To overcome these issues, three-dimensional (3D) printing (additive manufacturing) is being adopted. Although some research results have been reported, relatively few studies on 3D printed thermoelectric materials are being carried out. In this study, we utilize extrusion 3D printing to manufacture n-type Bi1.7Sb0.3Te3 (N-BST). The ink is produced without using organic binders, which could negatively influence its thermoelectric properties. Furthermore, we introduce graphene oxide (GO) at the crystal interface to enhance the electrical properties. The formed N-BST composites exhibit significantly improved electrical conductivity and a higher Seebeck coefficient as the GO content increases. Therefore, we propose that the combination of the extrusion 3D printing process (Direct Ink Writing, DIW) and the incorporation of GO into N-BST offers a convenient and effective approach for achieving higher thermoelectric efficiency.
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Metal-additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser sintering (SLS), are increasingly utilized for new biomaterials, such as cobalt-chrome (Co-Cr). In this study, Co-Cr gas-atomized powders are used as charge materials for the SLS process. The aim is to understand the consolidation of Co-Cr alloy powder and characterization of samples sintered using SLS under various conditions. The results clearly suggest that besides the matrix phase, the second phase, which is attributed to pores and oxidation particles, is observed in the sintered specimens. The as-built samples exhibit completely different microstructural features compared with the casting or wrought products reported in the literature. The microstructure reveals melt pools, which represent the characteristics of the scanning direction, in particular, or of the SLS conditions, in general. It also exposes extremely fine grain sizes inside the melt pools, resulting in an enhancement in the hardness of the as-built products. Thus, the hardness values of the samples prepared by SLS under all parameter conditions used in this study are evidently higher than those of the casting products.
The plastic deformation behavior of additively manufactured anisotropic structures are analyzed using the finite element method (FEM). Hill’s quadratic anisotropic yield function is used, and a modified return-mapping method based on dual potential is presented. The plane stress biaxial loading condition is considered to investigate the number of iterations required for the convergence of the Newton-Raphson method during plastic deformation analysis. In this study, incompressible plastic deformation is considered, and the associated flow rule is assumed. The modified returnmapping method is implemented using the ABAQUS UMAT subroutine and effective in reducing the number of iterations in the Newton-Raphson method. The anisotropic tensile behavior is computed using the 3-dimensional FEM for two tensile specimens manufactured along orthogonal additive directions.
Aluminum-based powders have attracted attention as key materials for 3D printing owing to their low density, high specific strength, high corrosion resistance, and formability. This study describes the effects of TiC addition on the microstructure of the A6013 alloy. The alloy powder was successfully prepared by gas atomization and further densified using an extrusion process. We have carried out energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to investigate the effect of TiC addition on the microstructure and texture evolution of the A6013 alloy. The atomized A6013-xTiC alloy powder is fine and spherical, with an initial powder size distribution of approximately 73 μm which decreases to 12.5, 13.9, 10.8, and 10.0 μm with increments in the amount of TiC.
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Conventionally, metal materials are produced by subtractive manufacturing followed by melting. However, there has been an increasing interest in additive manufacturing, especially metal 3D printing technology, which is relatively inexpensive because of the absence of complicated processing steps. In this study, we focus on the effect of varying powder size on the synthesis quality, and suggest optimum process conditions for the preparation of AlCrFeNi high-entropy alloy powder. The SEM image of the as-fabricated specimens show countless, fine, as-synthesized powders. Furthermore, we have examined the phase and microstructure before and after 3D printing, and found that there are no noticeable changes in the phase or microstructure. However, it was determined that the larger the powder size, the better the Vickers hardness of the material. This study sheds light on the optimization of process conditions in the metal 3D printing field.
Metal three-dimensional (3D) printing is an important emerging processing method in powder metallurgy. There are many successful applications of additive manufacturing. However, processing parameters such as laser power and scan speed must be manually optimized despite the development of artificial intelligence. Automatic calibration using information in an additive manufacturing database is desirable. In this study, 15 commercial pure titanium samples are processed under different conditions, and the 3D pore structures are characterized by X-ray tomography. These samples are easily classified into three categories, unmelted, well melted, or overmelted, depending on the laser energy density. Using more than 10,000 projected images for each category, convolutional neural networks are applied, and almost perfect classification of these samples is obtained. This result demonstrates that machine learning methods based on X-ray tomography can be helpful to automatically identify more suitable processing parameters.
A well-established characterization method is required in powder bed fusion (PBF) metal additive manufacturing, where metal powder is used. The characterization methods from the traditional powder metallurgy process are still being used. However, it is necessary to develop advanced methods of property evaluation with the advances in additive manufacturing technology. In this article, the characterization methods of powders for metal PBF are reviewed, and the recent research trends are introduced. Standardization status and specifications for metal powder for the PBF process which published by the ISO, ASTM, and MPIF are also covered. The establishment of powder characterization methods are expected to contribute to the metal powder industry and the advancement of additive manufacturing technology through the creation of related databases.
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The 3D printing process provides a higher degree of freedom when designing ceramic parts than the conventional press forming process. However, the generation and growth of the microcracks induced during heat treatment is thought to be due to the occurrence of local tensile stress caused by the thermal decomposition of the binder inside the green body. In this study, an alumina columnar specimen, which is a representative ceramic material, is fabricated using the digital light process (DLP) 3D printing method. DTG analysis is performed to investigate the cause of the occurrence of microcracks by analyzing the debinding process in which microcracks are mainly generated. HDDA of epoxy acrylates, which is the main binder, rapidly debinded in the range of 200 to 500°C, and microcracks are observed because of real-time microscopic image observation. For mitigating the rapid debinding process of HDDA, other types of acrylates PETA, PUA, and MMA are added, and the effect of these additives on the debinding rate is investigated. By analyzing the DTG in the 25 to 300°C region, it is confirmed that the PETA monomer and the PUA monomer can suppress the rapid decomposition rate of HDDA in this temperature range.
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In the development of advanced ceramic tools, material improvements and design freedom are critical in improving tool performance. However, in the die press molding method, many factors limit tool design and make it difficult to develop innovative advanced tools. Ceramic 3D printing facilitates the production of prototype samples for advanced tool development and the creation of complex tooling products. Furthermore, it is possible to respond to mass production requirements by reflecting the needs of the tool industry, which can be characterized by small quantities of various products. However, many problems remain in ensuring the reliability of ceramic tools for industrial use. In this study, alumina inserts, a representative ceramic tool, was manufactured using the digital light process (DLP), a 3D printing method. Alumina inserts prepared by 3D printing are pressurelessly sintered under the same conditions as coupon-type specimens prepared by press molding. After sintering, a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment is performed to investigate the effects of relative density and microstructure changes on hardness and fracture toughness. Alumina inserts prepared by 3D printing show lower relative densities than coupon specimens prepared by powder molding but indicate similar hardness and higher fracture toughness values.
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In this study, a process is developed for 3D printing with alumina (Al2O3). First, a photocurable slurry made from nanoparticle Al2O3 powder is mixed with hexanediol diacrylate binder and phenylbis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide photoinitiator. The optimum solid content of Al2O3 is determined by measuring the rheological properties of the slurry. Then, green bodies of Al2O3 with different photoinitiator contents and UV exposure times are fabricated with a digital light processing (DLP) 3D printer. The dimensional accuracy of the printed Al2O3 green bodies and the number of defects are evaluated by carefully measuring the samples and imaging them with a scanning electron microscope. The optimum photoinitiator content and exposure time are 0.5 wt% and 0.8 s, respectively. These results show that Al2O3 products of various sizes and shapes can be fabricated by DLP 3D printing.
In this study, H13 tool steel sculptures are built by a metal 3D printing process at various laser scan speeds. The properties of commercial H13 tool steel powders are confirmed for the metal 3D printing process used: powder bed fusion (PBF), which is a selective laser melting (SLM) process. Commercial H13 powder has an excellent flowability of 16.68 s/50 g with a Hausner ratio of 1.25 and a density of 7.68 g/cm3. The sculptures are built with dimensions of 10 × 10 × 10 mm3 in size using commercial H13 tool steel powder. The density measured by the Archimedes method is 7.64 g/cm3, similar to the powder density of 7.68 g/cm3. The hardness is measured by Rockwell hardness equipment 5 times to obtain a mean value of 54.28 HRC. The optimum process conditions in order to build the sculptures are a laser power of 90 W, a layer thickness of 25 μm, an overlap of 30%, and a laser scan speed of 200 mm/s.
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Selective laser melting (SLM) can produce a layer of a metal powder and then fabricate a three-dimensional structure by a layer-by-layer method. Each layer consists of several lines of molten metal. Laser parameters and thermal properties of the materials affect the geometric characteristics of the melt pool such as its height, depth, and width. The geometrical characteristics of the melt pool are determined herein by optical microscopy and three-dimensional bulk structures are fabricated to investigate the relationship between them. Powders of the commercially available Fe-based tool steel AISI H13 and Ni-based superalloy Inconel 738LC are used to investigate the effect of material properties. Only the scan speed is controlled to change the laser parameters. The laser power and hatch space are maintained throughout the study. Laser of a higher energy density is seen to melt a wider and deeper range of powder and substrate; however, it does not correspond with the most highly densified three-dimensional structure. H13 shows the highest density at a laser scan speed of 200 mm/s whereas Inconel 738LC shows the highest density at 600 mm/s.
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